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2 Equipping young people with the skills to achieve their full potential, participate in an increasingly interconnected global economy, and ultimately convert better jobs into better lives is a central preoccupation of policy makers around the world. Skills empower people to meet the challenges of everyday life, related to making decisions; solving problems; dealing with unexpected events, such as job loss and family break-up. Beyond better outcomes for the individual, skills also provide the vital glue for resilient communities and well-functioning societies, by strengthening inclusiveness, tolerance, trust, ethics, responsibility, environmental awareness, collaboration and effective democratic processes. Over the past decade, the OECD Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), has become the world s premier yardstick for evaluating the quality, equity and efficiency of school systems in providing young people with these skills. But the evidence base that PISA has produced goes well beyond statistical benchmarking. By identifying the characteristics of high-performing education systems, PISA allows governments and educators to identify effective policies that they can then adapt to their local contexts. This brochure highlights some of the PISA 2012 results that are especially relevant to attain excellence in education and shows how skills can help improve personal outcomes, reinforce the resilience of local communities, and ultimately strengthen the social tissue of our economies. Angel Gurría OECD Secretary-General 2

3 What is PISA? What is important for citizens to know and be able to do? That is the question that underlies the world s global metric for quality, equity and efficiency in school education known as the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA). PISA assesses the extent to which 15-year-old students have acquired key knowledge and skills that are essential for full participation in modern societies. The assessment, which focuses on reading, mathematics, science and problem-solving, does not just ascertain whether students can reproduce what they have learned; it also examines how well they can extrapolate from what they have learned and apply that knowledge in unfamiliar settings, both in and outside of school. This approach reflects the fact that modern societies reward individuals not for what they know, but for what they can do with what they know. PISA results reveal what is possible in education by showing what students in the highest-performing and most rapidly improving education systems can do. The findings allow policy makers around the world to gauge the knowledge and skills of students in their own countries in comparison with those in other countries, set policy targets against measurable goals achieved by other education systems, and learn from policies and practices applied elsewhere. Key features of PISA 2012 Content The PISA 2012 survey focused on mathematics, with reading, science and problem-solving minor areas of assessment. For the first time, PISA 2012 also included an assessment of the financial literacy of young people. Participating countries and economies All 34 OECD member countries and 31 partner countries and economies participated in PISA 2012, representing more than 80% of the world economy. Participating students Around students between the ages of 15 years 3 months and 16 years 2 months completed the assessment in 2012, representing about 28 million 15-year-olds in the schools of the 65 participating countries and economies. The assessment Paper-based tests were used, with assessments lasting two hours. In a range of countries and economies, an additional 40 minutes were devoted to the computer-based assessment of mathematics, reading and problem solving. Test items were a mixture of questions requiring students to construct their own responses and multiple choice items. The items were organised in groups based on a passage setting out a real life situation. A total of about 390 minutes of test items were covered, with different students taking different combinations of test items. Students answered a background questionnaire, which took 30 minutes to complete, that sought information about themselves, their homes and their school and learning experiences. School principals were given a questionnaire, to complete in 30 minutes, that covered the school system and the learning environment. In some countries and economies, optional questionnaires were distributed to parents, who were asked to provide information on their perceptions of and involvement in their child s school, their support for learning in the home, and their child s career expectations, particularly in mathematics. Countries could choose two other optional questionnaires for students: one asked students about their familiarity with and use of information and communication technologies, and the second sought information about their education to date, including any interruptions in their schooling and whether and how they are preparing for a future career. 3

4 What Students Know and Can Do: Student Performance in Mathematics, Reading and Science What the data tell us Shanghai-China has the highest scores in mathematics, with a mean score of 613 points 119 points, or the equivalent of nearly three years of schooling, above the OECD average. Singapore, Hong Kong-China, Chinese Taipei, Korea, Macao-China, Japan, Liechtenstein, Switzerland and the Netherlands, in descending order of their scores, round out the top ten performers in mathematics. Of the 64 countries and economies with trend data between 2003 and 2012, 25 improved in mathematics performance. On average across OECD countries, 13% of students are top performers in mathematics (Level 5 or 6). They can develop and work with models for complex situations, and work strategically using broad, well developed thinking and reasoning skills. The partner economy Shanghai China has the largest proportion of students performing at Level 5 or 6 (55%), followed by Singapore (40%), Chinese Taipei (37%) and Hong Kong China (34%). At the same time, 23% of students in OECD countries, and 32% of students in all participating countries and economies, did not reach the baseline Level 2 in the PISA mathematics assessment. At that level, students can extract relevant information from a single source and can use basic algorithms, formulae, procedures or conventions to solve problems involving whole numbers. Between 2003 and 2012, Italy, Poland and Portugal increased their shares of top performers and simultaneously reduced their shares of low performers in mathematics. Boys perform better than girls in mathematics in only 37 out of the 65 countries and economies that participated in PISA 2012, and girls outperform boys in five countries. Shanghai-China, Hong Kong-China, Singapore, Japan and Korea are the five highest-performing countries and economies in reading in PISA Of the 64 countries and economies with comparable data throughout their participation in PISA, 32 improved their reading performance. On average across OECD countries, 8% of students are top performers in reading (Level 5 or 6). These students can handle texts that are unfamiliar in either form or content and can conduct fine-grained analyses of texts. Shanghai China has the largest proportion of top performers 25% among all participating countries and economies. More than 15% of students in Hong Kong China, Japan and Singapore are top performers in reading as are more than 10% of students in Australia, Belgium, Canada, Finland, France, Ireland, Korea, Liechtenstein, New Zealand, Norway, Poland and Chinese Taipei. Between the 2000 and 2012 PISA assessments, Albania, Israel and Poland increased their shares of top performers and simultaneously reduced their shares of low performers in reading. Between 2000 and 2012 the gender gap in reading performance favouring girls widened in 11 countries. Shanghai-China, Hong Kong-China, Singapore, Japan and Finland are the top five performers in science in PISA Between 2006 and 2012, Italy, Poland and Qatar, and between 2009 and 2012, Estonia, Israel and Singapore increased their shares of top performers and simultaneously reduced their shares of low performers in science. Across OECD countries, 8% of students are top performers in science (Level 5 or 6). These students can identify, explain and apply scientific knowledge and knowledge about science in a variety of complex life situations. 4

5 What Students Know and Can Do: Student Performance in Mathematics, Reading and Science Snapshot of performance in mathematics, reading and science Countries/economies with a mean performance/share of top performers above the OECD average Countries/economies with a share of low achievers below the OECD average Countries/economies with a mean performance/share of low achievers/share of top performers not statistically significantly different from the OECD average Countries/economies with a mean performance/share of top performers below the OECD average Countries/economies with a share of low achievers above the OECD average Mathematics Reading Science Mean score in PISA 2012 Share of low achievers in mathematics (Below Level 2) Share of top performers in mathematics (Level 5 or 6) Annualised change in score points Mean score in PISA 2012 Annualised change in score points Mean score in PISA 2012 Annualised change in score points OECD average Shanghai-China Singapore Hong Kong-China Chinese Taipei Korea Macao-China Japan Liechtenstein Switzerland Netherlands Estonia Finland Canada Poland Belgium Germany Viet Nam m 508 m 528 m Austria Australia Ireland Slovenia Denmark New Zealand Czech Republic France United Kingdom Iceland Latvia Luxembourg Norway Portugal Italy Spain Russian Federation Slovak Republic United States Lithuania Sweden Hungary Croatia Israel Greece Serbia Turkey Romania Cyprus 1, m 449 m 438 m Bulgaria United Arab Emirates m 442 m 448 m Kazakhstan Thailand Chile Malaysia Mexico Montenegro Uruguay Costa Rica Albania Brazil Argentina Tunisia Jordan Colombia Qatar Indonesia Peru Footnote by Turkey: The information in this document with reference to Cyprus relates to the southern part of the Island. There is no single authority representing both Turkish and Greek Cypriot people on the Island. Turkey recognises the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC). Until a lasting and equitable solution is found within the context of the United Nations, Turkey shall preserve its position concerning the Cyprus issue. 2. Footnote by all the European Union Member States of the OECD and the European Union: The Republic of Cyprus is recognised by all members of the United Nations with the exception of Turkey. The information in this document relates to the area under the effective control of the Government of the Republic of Cyprus. The annualised change is the average annual change in PISA score points from a country s/economy s earliest participation in PISA to PISA It is calculated taking into account all of a country s/economy s participation in PISA. Note: Countries/economies in which the annualised change in performance is statistically significant are marked in bold. Countries and economies are ranked in descending order of the mean mathematics score in PISA Source: OECD, PISA 2012 Database; Tables I.2.1a, I.2.1b, I.2.3a, I.2.3b, I.4.3a, I.4.3b, I.5.3a and I.5.3b. 5

6 What this means for policy and practice Proficiency in mathematics is a strong predictor of positive outcomes for young adults, influencing their ability to participate in post-secondary education and their expected future earnings. OECD countries invest over USD 230 billion each year in mathematics education in schools. While this is a major investment, the returns are many times larger. The OECD s new Survey of Adult Skills finds that foundation skills in mathematics have a major impact on individuals life chances. The survey shows that poor mathematics skills severely limit people s access to better-paying and more-rewarding jobs; at the aggregate level, inequality in the distribution of mathematics skills across populations is closely related to how wealth is shared within nations. Beyond that, the survey shows that people with strong skills in mathematics are also more likely to volunteer, see themselves as actors in rather than as objects of political processes, and are even more likely to trust others. Fairness, integrity and inclusiveness in public policy thus also hinge on the skills of citizens. PISA 2012 provides the most comprehensive picture of the mathematics skills developed in schools that has ever been available, looking not just at what students know in the different domains of mathematics, but also at what they can do with what they know. The results show wide differences between countries in the mathematics knowledge and skills of 15-year-olds. The equivalent of almost six years of schooling, 245 score points on the PISA mathematics scale, separates the highest and lowest average performances of the countries that took part in the PISA 2012 mathematics assessment. However, differences between countries represent only a fraction of the overall variation in student performance. The difference in mathematics performances within countries is generally even greater, with over 300 points the equivalent of more than seven years of schooling often separating the highest and the lowest performers in a country. Addressing the education needs of such diverse populations and narrowing the observed gaps in student performance remains a formidable challenge for all countries. 6

8 PISA 2012 results show that many countries and economies have improved their performance, whatever their culture or socio-economic status. For some of the countries and economies that improved their performance in one or more of the domains assessed, improvements are observed among all students: everyone moved up. Other countries concentrated their improvements among their low achieving students, increasing the share of students who begin to show literacy in mathematics, reading or science. Improvement in other countries, by contrast, is concentrated among high-achieving students, so the share of top-performing students grew. Some of the highest-performing education systems were able to extend their lead, while others with very low performance have been catching up. This suggests that improvement is possible, whatever the starting point for students, schools and education systems. Annualised change in performance between 2003 and 2012 and average PISA 2003 mathematics scores 5 PISA 2003 performance below OECD average PISA 2003 performance above OECD average Annualised change in mathematics score (in score points) Brazil Tunisia Mexico Indonesia Turkey Thailand Uruguay Greece Portugal Italy Russian Federation Poland Latvia United States Spain Luxembourg Norway Hungary Slovak Republic Germany Macao-China Hong Kong-China Korea Switzerland Japan Austria Liechtenstein OECD average 2003 Ireland Belgium France Canada Netherlands Denmark Iceland Australia New Zealand Czech Finland Republic Sweden Performance improved Performance deteriorated Mean mathematics score in PISA 2003 Notes: Annualised score-point changes in mathematics that are statistically significant are indicated in a darker tone. The annualised change is the average annual change in PISA score points from a country s/economy s earliest participation in PISA to PISA It is calculated taking into account all of a country s/economy s participation in PISA. Only countries and economies with comparable data from PISA 2003 and PISA 2012 are shown. The correlation between a country s/economy s mean score in 2003 and its annualised performance is OECD average 2003 considers only those countries with comparable data since PISA Source: OECD, PISA 2012 Database; Figure I

9 What Students Know and Can Do: Student Performance in Mathematics, Reading and Science Nurturing top performance and tackling low performance need not be mutually exclusive. In most countries and economies only a small proportion of students attains the highest levels and can be called top performers in mathematics, reading or science. Even fewer are the academic all-rounders, those students who achieve proficiency Level 5 or higher in all three subjects. Nurturing excellence in mathematics, reading or science, or in all three domains, is crucial for a country s development as these students will be in the vanguard of a competitive, knowledge-based global economy. Some high-performing countries in PISA 2012, like Estonia and Finland, also show small variations in student scores, proving that high performance is possible for all students. Equally important, since their first participations in PISA, France, Hong Kong-China, Italy, Japan, Korea, Luxembourg, Macao-China, Poland, Portugal and the Russian Federation have been able to increase the share of top performers in mathematics, reading or science, indicating that education systems can pursue and promote academic excellence whether they perform at or above the OECD average (e.g. Japan, Korea) or below the OECD average (e.g. Italy, Portugal, the Russian Federation). Countries with large numbers of students who struggle to master basic reading skills at age 15 are likely to be held back in the future. Among students who fail to reach the baseline level of performance (Level 2) in mathematics, reading or science, meaning that, at best, they can only handle the simplest and most obvious tasks, most can be expected not to continue with education beyond compulsory schooling, and therefore risk facing difficulties using mathematics, reading and science concepts throughout their lives. The proportion of 15-year-old students at this level varies widely across countries, from fewer than one student in ten in four countries and economies, to the majority of students in 15 countries. Even in the average OECD country, where more than one in five students does not reach Level 2, tackling such low performance is a major challenge. It requires dismantling the barriers posed by social background, taking a close look at the relationship between performance and students attitudes towards learning, and focusing on schools organisation, resources and learning environment. Reducing the proportion of students who perform below Level 2 also has an important economic dimension. According to one estimate, if all students attained Level 2 proficiency in mathematics the combined economic output of OECD countries would be boosted by around USD 200 trillion. While such estimates are never wholly certain, they do suggest that the cost of improving education outcomes is just a fraction of the high cost of low student performance. The gender gap in student performance can be narrowed considerably as both boys and girls in all countries and economies show that they can succeed in all three subjects. Boys and girls show different levels of performance in mathematics, reading and science, but performance differences within the genders are significantly larger than those between them. Marked gender differences in mathematics performance in favour of boys are observed in many countries and economies, but with a number of exceptions and to varying degrees. Among girls, the greatest hurdle is in reaching the top: girls are under-represented among the highest achievers in most countries and economies, which poses a serious challenge to achieving gender parity in science, technology, engineering and mathematics occupations in the future. Some countries succeeded in narrowing the gender gap in mathematics; others need to find more effective strategies for improving the level of engagement, drive, self-beliefs and performance among girls. At the same time, there is evidence that in many countries and economies more boys than girls are among the lowest-performing students, and in some of these countries/economies more should be done to engage boys in mathematics. By contrast, girls outperform boys in reading almost everywhere. This gender gap is particularly large in some high-performing countries, where almost all underperformance in reading is seen only among boys. Low-performing boys face a particularly large disadvantage as they are heavily over-represented among those who fail to show basic levels of reading literacy. These low levels of performance tend to be coupled with low levels of engagement with school and as observed in PISA 2009 with low levels of engagement with and commitment to reading. To close the gender gap in reading performance, policy makers need to promote boys engagement with reading and ensure that more boys begin to show the basic level of proficiency that will allow them to participate fully and productively in life. 9

12 Excellence through Equity: Giving Every Student the Chance to Succeed What the data tell us Australia, Canada, Estonia, Finland, Hong Kong-China, Japan, Korea, Liechtenstein, the Netherlands and Macao China combine high levels of performance with equity in education opportunities as assessed in PISA Of the 39 countries and economies that participated in both PISA 2003 and 2012, Mexico, Turkey and Germany improved both their mathematics performance and their levels of equity in education during the period. Across OECD countries, a more socio-economically advantaged student scores 39 points higher in mathematics the equivalent of nearly one year of schooling than a less-advantaged student. Some 6% of students across OECD countries nearly one million students are resilient, meaning that they beat the socio-economic odds against them and exceed expectations, when compared with students in other countries. In Hong Kong-China, Macao-China, Shanghai-China, Singapore and Viet Nam, 13% of students or more are resilient and perform among the top 25% of students across all participating countries and economies. The share of immigrant students in OECD countries increased from 9% in 2003 to 12% in 2012 while the performance disadvantage of immigrant students as compared to students without an immigrant background but with similar socio-economic status shrank by 10 score points during the same period. The concentration of immigrant students in a school is not, in itself, associated with poor performance. Across OECD countries, students who reported that they had attended pre-primary school for more than one year score 53 points higher in mathematics the equivalent of more than one year of schooling than students who had not attended pre-primary education. OECD countries allocate at least an equal, if not a larger, number of teachers per student to socio economically disadvantaged schools as to advantaged schools; but disadvantaged schools tend to have great difficulty in attracting qualified teachers. 12

13 Excellence through Equity: Giving Every Student the Chance to Succeed What this means for policy and practice The large differences between countries/economies in the extent to which socio-economic status influences learning outcomes suggests that it is possible to combine high performance with high levels of equity in education. Socio-economic disadvantage is closely interconnected with many of the student and school characteristics that are associated with performance. Although poor performance in school does not automatically stem from disadvantage, the socio-economic status of students and schools does appear to exert a powerful influence on learning outcomes. Because advantaged families are better able to reinforce and enhance the effects of schools, because students from advantaged families attend higher-quality schools, or because schools are simply better-equipped to nurture and develop young people from advantaged backgrounds, in many countries, schools tend to reproduce existing patterns of socio economic advantage, rather than create a more equitable distribution of learning opportunities and outcomes. However, differences across countries in the extent to which student-level factors (such as family structure, parents job status and immigrant background) and school-level factors (such as how resources are allocated across schools) are associated with performance show that policies and practices have an impact on both equity and performance. Performance and equity Mean mathematics score Strength of the relationship between performance and socio-economic status is above the OECD average Strength of the relationship between performance and socio-economic status is not statistically significantly different from the OECD average Strength of the relationship between performance and socio-economic status is below the OECD average Above-average mathematics performance Below-average equity in education opportunities Shanghai-China Above-average mathematics performance Above-average equity in education opportunities Chinese Taipei Singapore Hong Kong-China Korea Austria Switzerland Japan Liechtenstein Czech Republic Poland Slovenia Netherlands Macao-China Belgium Germany Estonia Viet Nam Finland Denmark Ireland Australia Canada France New Zealand Iceland OECD average United Kingdom Slovak Republic Portugal Spain Latvia Italy Norway Luxembourg United States Sweden Hungary Israel Lithuania Russian Federation Croatia Turkey Bulgaria Greece Serbia United Arab Emirates Romania Malaysia Kazakhstan Chile Thailand Costa Rica Uruguay Mexico Argentina Montenegro Jordan Brazil Qatar Peru Colombia Tunisia Indonesia Below-average mathematics performance Below-average equity in education opportunities OECD average Below-average mathematics performance Above-average equity in education opportunities 30 Less equity Percentage of variation in performance explained by the PISA index of economic, social and cultural status Greater equity Source: OECD, PISA 2012 Database; Figure II

14 The allocation of resources across schools is associated with equity in education opportunities. With some notable exceptions, OECD countries try to allocate at least an equal, if not a larger, number of teachers per student to disadvantaged schools compared with advantaged schools. This said, disadvantaged schools still report greater difficulties in attracting qualified teachers. In other words, in disadvantaged schools, more resources do not necessarily translate into better-quality resources. This suggests that many of their students face the double drawback of coming from a disadvantaged background and attending a school with lower-quality resources. In addition, some education systems tend to separate students either across classes or schools. Evidence from PISA shows that school systems that segregate students according to their performance tend to be those where students are also segregated by socio-economic status and by the frequency of their exposure to formal mathematics. In Finland, early detection mechanisms, such as periodic individualised assessments of students by several groups of teachers, allow educators to identify struggling students and offer them the necessary support early on, before they become stuck and cannot continue their education at the same pace as their peers. Israel and Germany have designed programmes that offer more learning opportunities to immigrant and minority students by providing a longer school day (Germany) or by encouraging students to participate in smaller study groups (Israel). The PISA results of several countries demonstrate that high average performance and equity are not mutually exclusive. Australia, Canada, Estonia, Finland, Hong Kong China, Japan, Korea, Liechtenstein, the Netherlands and Macao China show above-oecd-average mean performance and a weak relationship between socio economic status and student performance. In Viet Nam, the strength of the relationship is around average while performance disparities associated with differences in students socio economic status are below average. 14

15 Excellence through Equity: Giving Every Student the Chance to Succeed Change between 2003 and 2012 in the strength of the impact of socio-economic status on performance and annualised mathematics performance 5.0 Equity deteriorated Equity improved Annualised change in mathematics score (in score points) Uruguay Portugal Poland France Finland Sweden Mexico Hong Kong-China Germany Russian Federation Greece Korea Indonesia Thailand Macao-China Switzerland Latvia Japan Spain Austria United States OECD average 2003 Luxembourg Slovak Republic Brazil Iceland New Zealand Tunisia Italy Ireland Norway Canada Hungary Belgium Netherlands Denmark Australia Czech Republic Turkey Liechtenstein Performance improved Performance deteriorated Change in the percentage of variation in mathematics performance explained by the PISA index of economic, social and cultural status ( ) Notes: Changes in both equity and performance that are statistically significant are indicated in a darker tone. The annualised change is the average annual change in PISA score points from a country's/economy's earliest participation in PISA to PISA It is calculated taking into account all of a country's/economy's participation in PISA. For comparability over time, PISA 2003 values on the PISA index of economic, social and cultural status have been rescaled to the PISA 2012 scale of the index. PISA 2003 results reported in this table may thus differ from those presented in Learning for Tomorrow s World: First Results from PISA 2003 (OECD, 2004). OECD average considers only those countries with comparable mathematics scores and values on the PISA index for economic, social and cultural status since PISA Only countries and economies with comparable data from PISA 2003 and PISA 2012 are shown. Source: OECD, PISA 2012 Database; Figure II

16 Several policy options, sometimes applied in combination, can improve performance and equity in education. Target low performance, regardless of students socio-economic status, either by targeting low-performing schools or low-performing students within schools, depending on the extent to which low performance is concentrated by school. These policies often tend to provide a specialised curriculum or additional instructional resources for particular students based on their academic achievement. For example, some school systems provide early-prevention programmes that target children who are deemed to be at risk of failure at school when they enter early childhood programmes or schools, while other systems provide late-prevention or recovery programmes for children who fail to progress at a normal rate during the first few years of primary school. The objective is to bring low-performing students, regardless of their socio-economic status, up to par with their peers. Colombia, Mexico and Poland, for example, have improved the information infrastructure of their school systems so that they can better identify and support struggling students and schools. Target disadvantaged children through additional instructional resources or economic assistance. These programmes select students based on their families socio-economic status, rather than on the students cognitive abilities. While policies targeting disadvantaged children can aim to improve these students performance in school, they can also provide additional economic resources to these students. In Brazil, Colombia and Mexico, for example, parents receive cash transfers if their children attend school. Other countries provide free transportation and free lunch programmes for students from poor families. Brazil, Germany, Israel, Mexico and Turkey have implemented targeted policies to improve the performance of low-achieving schools or students, or have distributed more resources to those regions and schools that need them most. Apply more universal policies to raise standards for all students. These policies can involve altering the content and pace of the curriculum, improving instructional techniques, introducing full-day schooling, changing the age of entry into school, or increasing the time spent in classes. Some countries, such as Denmark and Germany, responded to PISA 2000 results by introducing major school and curricular reforms that included some of these changes. Some countries have introduced system wide reforms that are aimed at moving towards more comprehensive schooling (Poland) or less tracking (Germany). These reforms simultaneously address various sources of inequity, such as socio economic disadvantage, an immigrant background, or a challenging family structure. Brazil, Colombia, Estonia, Israel, Japan and Poland, all of which have improved their performance in PISA, have established policies to improve the quality of their teaching staff by adding to the requirements to earn a teaching license, offering incentives for high-achieving students to enter the profession, increasing salaries to make the profession more attractive, or providing incentives for teachers to engage in in-service teacher-training programmes. Include marginalised students in mainstream schools and classrooms. These policies aim to include students who may be segregated, whether because of disability or ethnic or socio economic status. Some inclusive policies try to reduce socio-economic segregation among schools by redrawing school catchment boundaries, amalgamating schools, or by creating magnet schools in low income areas. Poland reformed its school system by delaying the age of selection into different programmes; and schools in Germany are moving away from separating students into different education programmes. 16

17 Excellence through Equity: Giving Every Student the Chance to Succeed Framework of policies to improve performance and equity in education Countries and economies with mean mathematics performance above the OECD average are shown in bold. Countries and economies with mean mathematics performance below the OECD average are shown in italics. Performance differences in mathematics across socio-economic groups Below OECD average Average Above OECD average Strength of the relationship between mathematics performance and socio-economic status Below OECD average Average Above OECD average Canada Estonia Finland Hong Kong-China Iceland Italy Jordan Kazakhstan Macao-China Mexico Montenegro Norway Qatar Serbia Thailand United Arab Emirates Argentina Brazil Colombia Costa Rica Greece Indonesia Malaysia Spain Tunisia Turkey United States Viet Nam Chile Luxembourg Peru Portugal Croatia Japan Korea Liechtenstein Netherlands Sweden Austria Denmark Germany Ireland Latvia Lithuania Poland Romania Russian Federation Shanghai-China Slovenia Switzerland United Kingdom Bulgaria Uruguay Australia Czech Republic Israel Singapore Belgium France Hungary New Zealand Slovak Republic Chinese Taipei Performance differences across the socio-economic spectrum are small large Impact of socio-economic status on performance is weak strong When performance differences across the socio-economic spectrum are small and students often perform better (or worse) than expected, given their socio-economic status, one of the main policy goals is to improve performance across the board. In these cases, universal policies tend to be most effective. These types of policies include changing curricula or instructional systems and/or improving the quality of the teaching staff, e.g. by requiring more qualifications to earn a teaching license, providing incentives for high-achieving students to enter the profession, increasing salaries to make the profession more attractive and to retain more teachers, and/or offering incentives for teachers to engage in in service teacher training programmes (e.g. Brazil, Estonia, Japan, Israel and Poland). When performance differences across the socio-economic spectrum are small but students perform as expected, given their socio economic status, one of the main policy goals is to dismantle the barriers to high performance associated with socio-economic disadvantage. In these cases, effective compensatory policies target disadvantaged students or schools, providing them with additional support, resources or assistance. Brazil, Colombia and Mexico, for example, offer cash transfers to disadvantaged families with children in school. Free lunch programmes or free textbooks for disadvantaged families are other examples. When performance differences across the socio-economic spectrum are large and students often perform better (or worse) than expected given their socio-economic status, one of the main policy goals is to improve performance among the lowest performers, regardless of their socio economic status. In these cases, targeting disadvantaged students only would provide extra support to some students who are already performing relatively well, while it would leave out some students who are not necessarily disadvantaged but who perform poorly. Policies can be targeted to low-performing students if these students can be easily identified, or to low-performing schools, particularly if low performance is concentrated in particular schools. Examples of such policies involve evaluation, feedback and appraisals for students, teachers and schools, or establishing early warning mechanisms and providing a modified curriculum or additional instructional support for struggling students. Colombia, Mexico and Poland, for example, have improved the information infrastructure of their education systems to better identify and support struggling students and schools. When performance differences across the socio-economic spectrum are large and students perform as would be expected, given their socio economic status, one of the main policy goals is to reduce performance differences and improve performance, particularly among disadvantaged students. A combination of policies targeting low performance and socio-economic disadvantage tend to be most effective in these cases, since universal policies may be less effective in improving both equity and performance simultaneously. 17

18 Ready to Learn: Students Engagement, Drive and Self-Beliefs What the data tell us Students whose parents have high expectations for them who expect them to earn a university degree and work in a professional or managerial capacity later on tend to have more perseverance, greater intrinsic motivation to learn mathematics, and more confidence in their own ability to solve mathematics problems than students of similar socio-economic status and academic performance, but whose parents hold less ambitious expectations for them. While four out of five students in OECD countries agree or strongly agree that they feel happy at school or that they feel like they belong at school, not all students are equally likely to report a strong sense of belonging: on average across OECD countries, for example, 78% of disadvantaged but 85% of advantaged students agree or strongly agree with the statement I feel like I belong at school. Although the vast majority of students reported a strong sense of belonging, more than one in three students in OECD countries reported that they had arrived late for school in the two weeks prior to the PISA test; and more than one in four students reported that they had skipped a class or a day of school during the same period. Lack of punctuality and truancy are negatively associated with student performance: on average across OECD countries, arriving late for school is associated with a 27-point lower score in mathematics, while skipping classes or days of school is associated with a 37-point lower score in mathematics the equivalent of almost one full year of formal schooling. Students who are open to solving mathematics problems who feel that they can handle a lot of information, are quick to understand things, seek explanations for things, can easily link facts together, and like to solve complex problems score 31 points higher in mathematics, on average, than those who are less open to problem solving. Among high achievers, the difference between the two groups of students is even greater an average of 39 score points. Across most countries and economies, socio-economically disadvantaged students not only score lower in mathematics, they also reported lower levels of engagement, drive, motivation and self-beliefs. Resilient students, disadvantaged students who achieve at high levels, break this link; in fact, they share many of the characteristics of advantaged high-achievers. Better teacher-student relations are strongly associated with greater student engagement with and at school. One way that a student s negative self-belief can manifest itself is in anxiety towards mathematics. Some 30% of students reported that they feel helpless when doing mathematics problems: 25% of boys, 35% of girls, 35% of disadvantaged students, and 24% of advantaged students reported feeling that way. PISA results show that even when girls perform as well as boys in mathematics, they tend to report less perseverance, less openness to problem solving, less intrinsic and instrumental motivation to learn mathematics, less self-belief in their ability to learn mathematics and more anxiety about mathematics than boys, on average; they are also more likely than boys to attribute failure in mathematics to themselves rather than to external factors. 18

19 Ready to Learn: Students Engagement, Drive and Self-Beliefs Mean mathematics score Snapshot of students engagement, drive and self-beliefs Countries/economies with values above the OECD average Countries/economies with values not statistically significantly different from the OECD average Countries/economies with values below the OECD average Values that are statistically significant are indicated in bold or with the symbol. Engagement with and at school Drive Mathematics self-beliefs Percentage of students who reported having skipped classes or days of school Score-point difference that is associated with students skipping classes or days of school Socio-economic disparities in sense of belonging among students of equal performance in mathematics Openness to problem solving Score-point difference per unit of the index of openness to problem solving Gender gap in openness to problem solving among students of equal performance in mathematics Socio-economic disparities in openness to problem solving among students of equal mathematics performance Mean score % Change Dif. in Mean Change Dif. in Dif. in Mean Change in score mean index index in score mean index mean index index in score OECD average Mathematics self-efficacy Score-point difference per unit of the index of mathematics self-efficacy Gender gap in mathematics self-efficacy among students of equal performance in mathematics Dif. in mean index Shanghai-China Singapore Hong Kong-China Chinese Taipei Korea Macao-China Japan Liechtenstein Switzerland Netherlands Estonia Finland Canada Poland Belgium Germany Viet Nam Austria Australia Ireland Slovenia Denmark New Zealand Czech Republic France United Kingdom Iceland Latvia Luxembourg Norway Portugal Italy Spain Russian Federation Slovak Republic United States Lithuania Sweden Hungary Croatia Israel Greece Serbia Turkey Romania Bulgaria United Arab Emirates Kazakhstan Thailand Chile Malaysia Mexico Montenegro Uruguay Costa Rica Albania m 0 m 1 Brazil Argentina Tunisia Jordan Colombia Qatar Indonesia Peru Countries and economies are ranked in descending order of the mean mathematics score in PISA Source: OECD, PISA 2012 Database; Tables I.2.3a, III.2.2c, III.3.2d, III.4.1d, III.5.2a, III.7.1b, III.7.2a, III.7.2b and III.7.3a. 19

20 Disagree: I feel like an outsider (or left out of things) at school Agree: I make friends easily at school Agree: I feel like I belong at school Disagree: I feel awkward and out of place in my school Agree: Other students seem to like me Disagree: I feel lonely at school Agree: I feel happy at school Agree: Things are ideal in my school Agree: I am satisfied with my school Students sense of belonging Percentage of students who reported "agree" or "strongly agree" or who reported "disagree" or "strongly disagree" The top and bottom three countries/economies in these measures are shown % Jordan 73% Argentina 67% Qatar 67% Viet Nam 94% Liechtenstein 94% Denmark 94% Indonesia 96% Kazakhstan 93% France 92% Macao-China 82% Japan 79% Korea 79% Colombia 94% Albania 94% Spain 93% Tunisia 66% Macao-China 66% France 47% Liechtenstein 93% Kazakhstan 92% Austria 91% Thailand 67% Jordan 66% Tunisia 64% Uruguay 97% Switzerland 94% Ireland 94% Chinese Taipei 72% Thailand 72% Viet Nam 41% Liechtenstein 95% Netherlands 95% Switzerland 95% Jordan 76% Romania 73% Qatar 72% Italy 32% Japan 31% Poland 30% Indonesia 96% Albania 94% Peru 94% Slovak Republic 64% Czech Republic 63% Korea 60% Albania 91% Kazakhstan 90% Thailand 86% Kazakhstan 94% Thailand 94% Albania 94% Japan 68% Korea 65% Macao-China 60% What this means for policy and practice PISA reveals that in most countries and economies, far too many students do not make the most of the learning opportunities available to them because they are not engaged with school and learning. This is evident in the fact that more than one in three students in OECD countries reported that they had arrived late for school during the two weeks prior to the PISA assessment; and more than one in four students reported that they had skipped classes or days of school during the same period. This is not just a question of lost time; these students are also far more likely to show poorer performance. Attendance at and engagement with school do not just vary among students and schools, but also across countries. In particular, the high-performing East Asian countries and economies, such as Hong Kong-China, Japan, Korea, Macao-China and Shanghai-China, have relatively small proportions of students who reported that they had arrived late for class or skipped a class or a day of school. The extent to which the educational aspirations of students and parents are the result of cultural values or determinants of these, and how such aspirations interact with education policies and practices is an important subject that merits further study. Whatever the case, it seems that if a country seeks better education performance, it is incumbent on political and social leaders to persuade the country s citizens to make the choices needed to show that they value education more than other areas of national interest. Source: OECD, PISA 2012 Database; Table III.2.3a. 20

BELGIUM ***Note- Some results for Belgium published today (3 December 2013) in the PISA 2012 international reports are in need of revision due to a technical error. An erratum is available from the PISA

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